Mexico Week In Review: 04.14-04.20

[cisdc]

Mexico Week In Review: 04.14-04.20
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Published since 1994, 'Mexico Week In Review' is a service of the
Committee of Indigenous Solidarity (CIS).  CIS is a Washington, D.C.
based activist group committed to the ongoing struggles of Indigenous
peoples in the Americas.  CIS is actively supporting the struggles
of the Indigenous peoples of Mexico while simultaneously combating
related structures of oppression within our own communities.

To view newsletter archives, visit: 
http://lists.mutualaid.org/pipermail/mexico-week/

"Para Todos, Todo; Para Nosotros Nada"
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OAXACA UPDATE: LEADER FREED

The man who led a five-month-long takeover of the Mexican city of 
Oaxaca by leftist protesters was freed from jail state officials 
said. Flavio Sosa led thousands of protesters who sealed off Oaxaca 
with barricades and battled police in late 2006 to demand the 
resignation of Gov. Ulises Ruiz, who protesters claim rigged his 
electoral victory and repressed opponents.

Sosa was arrested in December 2006 and charged with kidnapping, 
robbery, and causing damages and injuries related to the takeover of 
the southern Mexican city. The Oaxaca state government said in a 
statement that Ruiz would respect the court's decision to free Sosa. 
Ruiz, who stayed in office despite the protests, denies he rigged his 
election win. The statement did not say why the court released Sosa, 
but prosecutors had failed to convict him of any of the charges.

Source: Associated Press: 04/19

FEDERAL AGENTS ARREST BORDER POLICE CHIEF

A Mexican federal official says the police chief of the border city 
of Reynosa has been arrested for allegedly protecting members of the 
Gulf drug cartel. The official says Chief Juan Muniz will be flown to 
Mexico City to be questioned by organized crime investigators. Muniz 
has been arrested by federal agents in Reynosa, across from McAllen, 
Texas, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity 
because he is not authorized to discuss the case.

Reynosa city officials have issued a news release saying Muniz was 
arrested Thursday afternoon. Muniz could not be immediately reached 
for comment and it was unclear if he had a lawyer. The Gulf cartel is 
based in Tamaulipas state, where Reynosa is located.

Source: Associated Press: 04/18

PEMEX PROTESTS I: OPPOSITION BARRICADES CONGRESS

Leftist lawmakers erected makeshift barricades around the podium in 
Mexico's lower house of Congress, where they have been camped out for 
more than five days to protest the president's oil reform proposal. 
They piled heavy chairs around the speaker's platform, while their 
colleagues in the Senate began fasting to demand that Congress 
schedule a four-month national debate on the energy bill backed by 
President Felipe Calderon.

Seeking to end the takeover, senators with Calderon's National Action 
Party, or PAN, and the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, 
offered to compromise and debate the issue for 50 days. "The 
uninterrupted 50-day term is broad enough for everyone to be heard," 
said PRI Sen. Manlio Fabio Beltrones. But members of the Democratic 
Revolution Party, or PRD, and allied leftist parties, refused. "We 
won't allow a simulated debate that will force our organization to 
write a blank check," Sen. Dante Delgado of the small Convergencia 
party told reporters. "We are asking that the legislative recess be 
used for a wide debate." The coordinator for the PAN in the Senate, 
Santiago Creel, said it was unlikely Congress would be able to 
approve the bill by April 30, when the legislative session ends.

Oil production in Mexico, one of the top suppliers to the United 
States, is declining, and reform advocates say state oil company 
Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, needs outside resources to explore for 
reserves. The bill would allow Pemex to partner with private 
companies for exploration and refining. Opponents claim the bill 
would lead toward selling off parts of Pemex and threaten national 
sovereignty. Sen. Carlos Navarrete, leader of the PRD bloc, vowed 
disruptions would continue. "We have made a gigantic effort - at 
enormous political and physical costs -  to push for a wider debate," 
he told W Radio.

The tactics in Congress are supported by Mexico's foremost leftist 
leader, former PRD presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez 
Obrador, who drew more than 100,000 supporters to a Sunday rally 
against the oil reform in Mexico City's central square. Last week, 
lawmakers from the PRD - the second largest bloc in Congress - and 
from two minor parties stormed the podiums in the house and Senate 
after Calderon introduced the bill.

Mexico's Constitution bans most private and foreign involvement in 
the oil industry, although Pemex subcontracts some work to private 
firms. The bill would allow Pemex to pay bonuses to private companies 
but not a share of the oil profits. Lopez Obrador said the bill aims 
to privatize Pemex, allowing Mexico's oil revenues - which provide 
for nearly 40 percent of the national budget - to go to private and 
foreign companies. Calderon has repeatedly denied he plans to 
privatize Pemex.

Source: Associated Press: 04/15

PEMEX PROTESTS II: OPPOSITION BLOCK FUEL TRUCKS AT REFINERY

Mexican leftists blocked fuel trucks from leaving a refinery in the 
southern state of Oaxaca in the latest protest against a government 
proposal to boost private investment in the oil sector. Mexican 
state-run oil monopoly Pemex said a crowd of some 400 protesters 
stopped trucks leaving its Salina Cruz refinery and said the blockade 
would hit fuel supplies to the southern states of Chiapas, Oaxaca, 
Puebla and Veracruz.

Supporters of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador have taken to the streets 
over conservative President Felipe Calderon's proposal to sweeten oil 
field service contracts with bonus fees, a move that could attract 
the foreign partners Pemex wants to speed up exploration projects. 
Pemex says it needs foreign partners to reach oil reserves in the 
deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico in time to make up for declining 
yields at shallow water and onshore oil fields.

The refinery blockade will not affect Mexico's tiny volume of fuel 
exports but will further strain a domestic gasoline supply grid that 
is already under pressure from infrastructure problems and 
bottlenecks at ports. Mexico is the world's No. 10 exporter of crude 
oil, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), 
but a shortfall of refining capacity means it has to import around 40 
percent of its gasoline.

Lopez Obrador has threatened to block highways and Pemex 
installations over Calderon's oil proposal, which was submitted to 
Congress last week, prompting leftist lawmakers to seize podiums in 
both houses of Congress.

Source: Reuters: 04/15


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The above articles were originally published and copyrighted by the 
listed sources. These articles are offered for educational purposes 
which CIS maintains is  'fair use' of copyrighted material as 
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.

end: Mexico Week In Review: 04.14-04.20
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